The Two P’s of PR: Planning and Patience

Every company covets media attention but few truly understand the process required to deliver it.

Startups want PR to jumpstart their business. Established companies need it to reinforce their leadership position. And everyone and everything in between seek the thrill of an article or primetime interview that can help differentiate their brand, give them an edge, or simply, get noticed.

The truth is PR is not easy. Seeking acknowledgement from the media requires planning, hard work, and most importantly, patience. Time and timing are crucial variables that often get overlooked; yet they can make or break a PR campaign.

Unless you are Donald, Hillary or Bernie right now, dropping a press release or blog post and expecting the media to flock to it is highly unlikely.

Earned media requires a good story, content and preparation. It also requires building relationship and earning the trust of reporters and journalists. A key component of this is integrating proper lead time when engaging the media. Providing the necessary “runway” to learn about your new product or service will significantly improve interest and allow for timely reporting.

But there still are no guarantees. That is s the beauty and power of PR. Hence the operative word “earned.” When you get it right, it can propel your business.

So despite the internal pressures and urgency to get things out, be sure to build in ample time to support media campaigns correctly. This will put your team and agency in the best position to succeed and result in higher quality media placements that will help move the needle.